Connect! Summer Sessions 2014

This July & August the Connect! project was pleased to be able to offer a unique opportunity to youth groups from across Scotland. The Connect! Summer Sessions were a programme of visits designed for young people aged 16-25 to be able to visit Parliament, take part in an interactive information session in our Education Centre and tour the building. The idea was to allow young people the chance to visit Parliament if they hadn’t before, to increase their parliamentary and political awareness, and to find out how young people can have their voices heard and get involved with the work of the Parliament.

Needless to say the visits proved hugely popular and the programme quickly became fully booked! We welcomed a wide variety of youth groups from all over Scotland, including youth forums, charities, voluntary organisations, employability schemes and student unions. It was brilliant to meet so many young people with such a range of ideas and opinions about the things that matter to them. We hope that those involved now feel more confident about raising awareness of these issues, having their voices heard and getting involved in the work of the Scottish Parliament.

The feedback from those that took part has been fantastic. Here’s a selection of what some of them had to say:

‘Thanks very much for our visit to the Parliament yesterday. We all took a lot from it and enjoyed it very much.’

‘The Young People really enjoyed the parliament, and said that they would love to go back.’

‘Thank you so much for yesterday's visit we all thoroughly enjoyed it and hope we can do this again.’

‘Just a quick note to say that the group thoroughly enjoyed yesterday’s visit to the parliament.  They felt it was well pitched and hugely informative. We would definitely be interested in bringing another group in the future if these sessions were to continue.’

‘The young people had a great time.’

‘Thank you for having us yesterday, we all really enjoyed our visit.’

‘The day was really interactive and very interesting. It was a fantastic way to learn about what goes on behind the scenes in the Scottish Parliament, and about how to get involved.’

We are continuing to arrange sessions with youth groups as part of the Connect! project. If you are interested in visiting Holyrood, or arranging a session in your local area, please contact Hayley Cole by email Hayley.Cole@scottish.parliament.uk or phone 0131 348 5384.